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Jake Paul's mouth gaped wide open, his eyes becoming wide, stunned circles as he collapsed to the mat in shock and awe after a devastating right hand from the former champion. It looked as if Paul was trying to utter "Wow!" as the force of the blow sank in to his rattled senses.

"Those watching didn't pay to see this rubbish," said the referee, summing up the dismal spectacle far more effectively than anyone else could.

Pinned in a neutral corner of the ring midway through the sixth round, Paul could not retreat or cling to Joshua's legs like a forlorn little boy as the gravity of boxing became clear. Instead, as he tried to absorb the punch that fractured his mandible in two separate places, Paul was lost in an completely stunned moment.

So that is what it is like, and appears, to be struck cleanly by a genuine boxer, an Olympic gold medallist and ex- world heavyweight champion. "Wow" is indeed the appropriate term.

It was the fourth time the former YouTuber had been knocked down, but the consequences of a clean punch meant Paul could not get up and taunt his opponent before the official waved the charade to a halt. As blood began to leak from his mouth, and a dull ache radiated through his jaw, Paul at last understood how hard, grueling, and dangerous boxing is at a respectable standard of professionalism.

An Unimpressive Impressive Victory for the Victor

Anthony Joshua, it should be stressed, was not impressive during the bedlam. After his empty victory, he made a throat-slitting gesture that suggested a precise and deadly execution when, in truth, Joshua had appeared exasperated for most of the contest. Instead of glowering with menace or displaying an iron certainty, Joshua had seemed tentative and crude for nearly five rounds.

Paul's poor fitness, which is a basic essential in elite boxing, dictated the result. Lacking the stamina to escape any more, and resorting to slipping to the canvas as often as he could for a breather, Paul was rendered defenseless by fatigue. Joshua delivered the brutal finish, but, until then, he had looked like a sad imitation of the fighter he had been in 2017.

Joshua's Aftermath Comments

"That was not the finest performance," Joshua admitted. "The end goal was to get Jake Paul, pin him down and hurt him. That has been the request, and that's what was on my thoughts. It took a little more time than anticipated, but the right hand eventually found its destination."

Joshua commended Paul's courage but he offered an excuse for his own stilted performance. "He came up against a real fighter tonight that's had a fifteen-month hiatus," Joshua said, mentioning his previous defeat. "We shook off the rust, and I am eager to roll into 2026."

The Future: Faded Forces and New Talent

In the press conference afterwards, a cheerful Joshua tried out a woeful imitation of Tyson Fury as he called for a scrap against the presently inactive boxer. Joshua will likely have his way, but that matchup comes much too late in their careers. Both fighters are on the far side of the hill.

In stark contrast, the most interesting heavyweights in the world are Oleksandr Usyk and the British prospect. Usyk remains the unquestioned ruler of the weight class, having beaten both Joshua and Fury on two occasions. Meanwhile, Itauma is a rising talent. The youthful British heavyweight likely have required fewer than half the amount of three-minute periods that Joshua required to send Paul into a suitably astonished state.

Paul's Unbowed Reaction

But the fans receives what the public desires, and that undoubtedly means additional low-quality crossover contests. Paul appeared genuinely proud and cocky to have had his jaw broken by a hammer-like right. In the early hours of Saturday morning, he shared an radiograph, with the pair of breaks highlighted in crimson.

That lighthearted nod to Saúl "Canelo" Álvarez, a far greater boxer than Joshua but a similarly faded presence, showed that Paul's brazen audacity remains unbroken. It might not be Canelo, but Paul will shortly find someone else with whom he can make north of $50 million.

During his in-ring interview, before departing to the hospital, Paul expelled a streak of blood onto the ring floor. It was another grim summary of the night as Paul mixed harsh reality with blood-flecked bravado and said: "I think my jaw is broken. It's certainly broke. A proper beating from one of the best to ever step in the ring. I adore this shit and I'm going to come back and keep on winning."